The Sidebar

5:28 pm

Mon January 27, 2014

Update: The Senate Ways & Means Committee approved SB366, 4-1, this morning. Sen. Bob Odell,R-Lempster,was the lone vote in opposition to the bill, which would license two casinos. Senate President Chuck Morse said the legislation will now move to the full Senate. Morse said the Senate will likelytable it and wait for the House to act on its own gambling bill. That legislation, drafted by members of the Gaming Regulatory Oversight Authority, envisions a single casino, which Gov. Maggie Hassan supports.

In December, the state agreed to settle a federal lawsuit filed in 2012 on behalf of six plaintiffs who had cycled in and out of emergency rooms and the state mental hospital. The state has agreed to spend $30 million over the next three years to re-build its community-based system of care, once considered a national model.

The Sidebar

6:00 am

Tue January 21, 2014

Granite State motorists are driving more fuel-efficient vehicles, which means they’re buying less gas. Motorists purchased almost 60 million fewer gallons of gas in 2012 than they did in 2005. That translated into an $11 million decrease in revenue.

A year after failing to agree on how to pay for a long list of road and bridge improvements, lawmakers will take another shot at bolstering the state’s chronically underfunded infrastructure this session.

Several bills are on the table, including one that would channel proceeds from a casino into the state’s highway fund.

Inside NHPR

11:23 am

Mon January 13, 2014

The enrollment period for new CAB members is now closed. NHPR is no longer accepting applications.

You listen, you support - now you can help shape NHPR!

Our Community Advisory Board, called “The Sounding Board,” is a panel of dedicated listeners from across the state that allows us to gather meaningful feedback about our programming, policies and services.

We rely on a Community Advisory Board to give the station regular feedback on our programs, Trustee decisions, and the needs of our audience.

The Gracies Award Submission

9:40 am

Fri January 10, 2014

Throughout 2013, Digital Producer & Designer Sara Plourde has told stories through her graphic features, and enhanced newsroom and program content with web-only graphics, blogs, and videos. For your consideration for The Gracies Online Producer award, here is a sample of stories from the designated submission period. Please click on the hyperlinks to see the full features:

Temperatures are set to reach the single digits this week in Durham, home to the main campus of the University of New Hampshire - but at least one house in town will be plenty hot.

Durham town administrator Todd Selig says he won himself a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce in a friendly wager with Hammond, Louisiana mayor Mayson Foster. The wager was over last weekend's football playoff game between the UNH Wildcats and the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions - a game, it should be noted, that was played in a venue called Strawberry Stadium.

Foodstuffs

11:50 am

Thu December 5, 2013

Back in the day the notion of homegrown hooch conjured images of backwoods brewers or bathtubs full of gin.

Not anymore. These days, micro-distilling--its fancier moniker--is less about the buzz and more about the artistry and science that goes into teasing spirits out of locally-sourced fruits, grains and herbs. Plus, it's legal and has been in New Hampshire since 2003.

The Sidebar

12:10 pm

Tue November 19, 2013

If you’ve been following the rollout of the Affordable Care Act in New Hampshire, you might be struggling to keep up with the twists and turns - from legislation passed in 2012 that barred creation of a state-run marketplace, to the thousands of letters Anthem Blue Cross mailed to policyholders this month, telling them their health plans did not meet the law’s coverage standards.

Virtual Town Hall

9:17 am

Thu November 14, 2013

Now that the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has launched, just how affordable will it make health insurance in New Hampshire? We hosted a special panel featuring Laura Knoy, host of NHPR's The Exchange, along with Tiffany Eddy of the Live Free or Die Alliance for a town hall discussion broadcast live on the web on Tuesday, November 19th.

Foodstuffs

7:00 am

Sat October 26, 2013

With pumpkin season in full swing, many Granite Staters are enjoying baked goods, snacks, and beverages flavored with this signature fall fruit. And then, of course, there's the annual rite of pumpkin carving. Weekend Edition host Amanda Loder talked with TheHeart of New England e-magazine's Marcia Passos Duffy about how to wring pumpkin flavor out of post-Halloween jack-o-lantern remains.

NHPR News Intern Abby Kessler has moved on to a new adventure, teaching English in South Korea. We've asked Abby to send us dispatches from her trip, and we'll be posting them as a series of blogs in the upcoming months.

As I was biking to meet two friends at a cafe on Saturday, I heard music blaring adjacent to the bike path. Much to my surprise, it was not a concert I'd stumbled upon, but a tae kwon do performance.

Foodstuffs

1:51 pm

Mon September 9, 2013

My toddler, Owen, and I agree on most things when we go out for breakfast. We prefer booth seats over chairs, sharing is always encouraged at the table, and we always go for crayons and coloring books when they're offered.

The one difference? He, being two years old, prizes consistency in his breakfasts - the more similar they are to the last breakfast outing, the better. In fact, he doesn't use the word "breakfast" for these trips - "I wanna go out for pancakes," he says.

NHPR News Intern Abby Kessler has moved on to a new adventure, teaching English in South Korea. We've asked Abby to send us dispatches from her trip, and we'll be posting them as a series of blogs in the upcoming months.

EarthTalk

12:00 am

Sun August 25, 2013

Dear EarthTalk: Might another possible source for ethanol be discarded pastries from bakeries? For that matter, wouldn’t fermenting unsold bananas, oranges and apples from grocery store produce departments be able to provide an ample supply of fuel? -- Curious in Warren, PA

4:21 pm

Thu August 22, 2013

One of our main activities today has been trying to find a woodchuck that ate all of our broccoli.

She’s standing next to the row of nibbled vegetables at the Dartmouth Organic Farm. Dressed in jeans, a sturdy brown corduroy jacket, and a forest green baseball cap, Erives looks like a farming veteran. But she’s a newbie.

I grew up in a suburb in the Los Angeles county area, and so this was entirely new to me.

Mon August 19, 2013

Copper Cannon Camp is tucked away in Franconia Notch on 128 acres of White Mountain National Forest. In some ways a typical overnight camp with sing-a-longs at night and archery during the day, Copper Cannon is unusual in one respect. As Sean Hurley reports, it's one of only a handful of co-ed camps in the country that's absolutely free for kids of low income families.